Qualifying 2 Report - Raikkonen holds pole in Monaco

Kimi Raikkonen held pole position in Monaco in the final qualifying session with a lap that was four-tenths slower than Fernando Alonso but fast enough to remain on pole. Logically, therefore, the McLaren is going to be carrying two or three laps worth of fuel more than the Renault. The rest of the field remained pretty much unchanged although Nick Heidfeld dropped behind Jarno Trulli and will start the race sixth while Michael Schumacher moved up from 10th to eighth, going faster than both Jacques Villeneuve and Rubens Barrichello.

The top 10 therefore will be Raikkonen, Alonso, Mark Webber, Giancarlo Fisichella, Jarno Trulli, Nick Heidfeld, David Coulthard, Michael Schumacher, Jacques Villeneuve and Rubens Barrichello. Juan Pablo Montoya drops to the back of the field alongside Juan Pablo Montoya. Judging who is using what fuel today is difficult and so we will have to wait for the first pit stops to see who is where. With Monaco however there is always the question of whether or not fuel strategies will run untroubled because there are often Safety Car incidents.

At the back of the field Minardi maintained its advantage over Jordan with the team's best qualifying result for several years.

Raikkonen will start as a strong favourite for the race while all eyes will be on Fisichella and Webber as the Renault has tended to be faster off the line that the Williams. Much will depend on the sort out at the first corner because of the problems drivers have overtaking on the streets of Monaco.